The artichoke flatbread was great. The Asian chicken salad had way too much of some kind of lettuce that was so bitter I could barely have a few bites, and the "chicken" was so sparse it was barely noticeable. Final straw: NO BABY CHANGING TABLES IN THE ENTIRE RESTAURANT. For this reason I won't be going back to try the salmon or the burger, which both sound delicious. Really. It's a casual restaurant in Leawood, and not a changing table to be found. Completely unbelievable and unacceptable.
Went this past Saturday morning. Liked it, not in love with it yet. Think it still needs tweaking. Beignets were a waste of time-tough not puffy. Breakfast entrees good but not enough pizzazz for price in my book. Understand paying for quality. Am hoping a little more tweaking will help it move into the great category.
Went this Saturday for brunch around 10am. Very minimal wait, nice atmosphere, friendly service. Food was delicious!! Glad to have another great breakfast place in westport now that my beloved Boot is gone!
It's great that the Corner is back. The food is good and the place never looked better. A little more sausage and pepper in the gravy and it would match the Corner in its golden years. But "savvy, cheery servers"? Not on our first two visits, where the items on the breakfast orders from three people were confused the first time. On the second, the waitress couldn't be bothered to take our order, then spent more time chatting with coworkers than tending her tables. It's nice to hire cool people, but they should be taught what they are there for.
I LOVE this place so far (been there twice). The loaded grits are awesome, too. Yes, it's not some place I can afford to eat a couple times a week, but that's probably better for my health anyway. Glad to see them doing well so far.
*Did NOT give the impression of someone who was a talented chef.
Although I like Tio I find her obsession with country bumpkin food terminology annoying. I remember watching her on Top Chef Masters and it was "puddin" and I felt like it did give a good impression of someone who is a talented chef. I agree completely that the use of the word "Stuff" does not belong on a menu. She needs to cut the cutesy boarding school slang and create a menu that is at the caliber of the level of chef she is. I also think it is a shame she does not have vegetarian entrees, it is 2013 and you are in the Crossroads. People are going to pass Collection right by and go to Affare, Extra Virgin or Pizzabella all excellent local choices with vegetarian options. Sounds like this place needs a lot of help to make it. What a odd choice of location.
Since when is North Kansas City a.k.a. Northtown, with the Missouri River serving as the southern border & 32nd Street as it's northern most border considered 'on the outskirts of Kansas City'? Look at map! Northtown is closer to Downtown Kansas City than Westport and La Plllaaazzahhhh!
http://kcrestaurantguide.com/html/restaura… menus coming soon
Celina Tio, I have to agree with 21Century - no web presence is a killer.
Articles in The Pitch and The Star aren't enough. There is no Collection website nor Facebook presence. The Twitter account @CollectionByTio doesn't have any information about the restaurant. Even your personal website is down.
Try Google maps, set it to encompass south downtown and search for lunch, dinner, dining, Tio, Celina and Collection - results for Collection are nada. Search Yelp for lunch, dining, dinner, downtown and Crossroads - same result. Search Yelp for Collection - a listing, with no reviews. Urban Spoon, three thumbs up, no reviews.
Great food is not enough. You need an online presence today to give Collection an opportunity to survive and to succeed. A social media person is as important to your restaurants success as a good manager or sous chef.
PS I've submitted a Google Maps request to have Collection listed at 1532 Grand instead of the former tenant.
PPS I must second Charles, lose the radio.
Ate dinner here with my girlfriend around 8pm on Saturday night. Attentive service and great food all around. Looking forward to Collection finding it's way in the downtown restaurant market. Great article as it highlighted my internal thoughts will dining and answered those questions.
Also, it does not appear that Collection has a website. That's probably hurting it a bit with the lunch crowd.
Wednesday also has the Westport Plaza Farmer's Market, at 43rd & Wyoming from 4:30 to 7:30pm.
Dancefestopia Music Festival in KC Sept 13-14. Wiz, Mac, Porter, Infected, EOTO and 60 more
Nothing like delicious BBQ for the summer time!
Jiggle Jam was last weekend (May 25/26) ... don't try to find it in June.
I have been to "The Shack" several times in the last 4 weeks and it has been outstanding!!! The mac n cheese is worth a visit. I get freaked out about getting big clumps of fat in Gates & Bryants beans and their beef sandwiches. KC SmokeShack's seems to do a good job of cutting the fat pieces out. Many times going to Royals Games I will get Gates Beans but I have to spit 1/2 of the beans out because of all the fat they leave in their beans. When I'm at a Royals Game I get the Gates Beans because it's a cheap snack, but I guess you get what you pay for.
Oh, By The Way, The Royals Suck Again!!!
I do not know what day of the week you went to KC Smoke Shack BBQ, however, our office tried this on a Friday. The only meat that was left to serve to anyone at noon was the pulled pork. He was out of everything. I will agree the pulled pork was dry, stringy and entirely too salty. All of us tried different sides so that we all could taste them. I found the mac-n-cheese over salted since he put his rub into the mix. The coleslaw with the mayonnaise base was barely palatable by Friday. The beans were so over cooked, they were more of a paste than a BBQ bean. ( I do not know how many times a week he makes his sides). I was hoping for a better experience, since Glen is a very respectable person. I can say I am not completely shut out, I would still love to try his smoke sausage, ribs and turkey.
After living in this area for years, I'm finally glad to hear of someone that has eaten at Kokoro.....I guess I'll have to give it a try!
Re: “Debbie Gold opens her Red Door Grill in Leawood”
The artichoke flatbread was great! The Asian chicken salad had way too much of some kind of lettuce that was so bitter I could hardly eat more than a few bites. And the chicken in the salad was so sparse I hardly noticed it was there. But the final straw: NO BABY CHANGING TABLES in the whole restaurant, not one. You've opened a casual restaurant in Leawood and you're excluding families with infants? Seriously? I was there for lunch. My 9-month-old didn't make a peep, but when I went to change him I was honestly shocked that there were no facilities set up for this. For this reason I won't be returning to try the salmon or the burger, which both sound pretty good.